Sunday, April 30, 2017

Egypt's President Abdul Fattah
al-Sisi has announced a three-month state of emergency after attacks on
two Coptic churches that left at least 44 dead.

The measure allows
authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people's homes.
It needs to be approved by parliament before it is implemented.

So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the blasts in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday.
The group has targeted Copts in Egypt recently and warns of more attacks.

Mr
Sisi made a defiant speech at the presidential palace after a meeting
of the national defence council to discuss the explosions.

He
warned that the war against the jihadists would be "long and painful",
and said that the state of emergency would come into force after all
"legal and constitution steps" were taken. The majority in parliament
backs Mr Sisi.

The president had earlier ordered the deployment of the military
across the country to protect "vital and important infrastructure."

The
move by Mr Sisi is likely to raise concerns among human rights
activists, observers say. The president, a former army chief, has been
criticised by local and international groups for severe restrictions on
civil and political rights in Egypt.

Human Rights Watch says
tens of thousands of people have been arrested in a crackdown on
dissent, and that security forces have committed flagrant abuses,
including torture, enforced disappearances and likely extrajudicial
executions.

The attacks coincided with one of the holiest days in the Christian
calendar, marking the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

IS
said that two suicide bombers carried out the blasts. One targeted St
George's Coptic church in the northern city of Tanta, where 27 people
were killed, the health ministry said.

Hours later, police stopped the bomber from entering
the St Mark's Coptic church in Alexandria, also in the north. He
detonated his explosives outside, leaving 17 dead, including several
police officers.
"Crusaders and their apostate allies should know
the bill between us and them is very big and they will pay it with
rivers of blood from their children, god willing. Wait for us, for we
will wait for you," the jihadist group said in a statement quoted by
Reuters news agency.

The blasts came weeks before an expected visit by Pope Francis
intended to show support for the country's Christians, who make up about
10% of Egypt's population and have long complained of being vulnerable
and marginalised.

This sense of precariousness has only
increased in recent years, with the rise of violent jihadism in parts of
Egypt, the BBC's Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says.

The
community's trust in the state's ability and willingness to protect them
will now be even more deeply shaken after the attacks, our
correspondent adds.

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Copts in Egypt: Recent developments

December 2016: 25 people died when a bomb exploded at the Coptic cathedral in Cairo during a service. IS said it was behind the attack

February 2016: A court sentenced three Christian teenagers
to five years in prison for insulting Islam. They had appeared in a
video, apparently mocking Muslim prayers, but claimed they had been
mocking IS following a number of beheadings

April 2013: Two people were killed outside St Mark's cathedral in Cairo when people mourning the death of
four Coptic Christians killed in religious violence clashed with local
residents